When Steve Rogers entered the main room, Coulson suddenly seemed the happiest he had been in ages. The look of pure admiration on his face made me smile, he still had so much to learn about the new world. It was strange seeing his face, his kind features that seemed a faint memory were now clear and pin sharp in front of me, but he hadn't noticed me yet. I just watched him survey his new surroundings, Doctor Banner wandering aimlessly around too, but anxiety followed him, unlike Steve whose air of confidence never faltered. Of course, he didn't know that Nicholas had died, so I swallowed down my worry, preparing for the question I knew would come my way.

"We're at level, sir," said a S.H.I.E.L.D operative.

"Good," replied Fury from his place of power, "let's vanish."

"Engage retro reflection panels." And after that order I knew the Helicarrier was invisible.

"Reflection panels engaged."

"Gentlemen," said Fury as he turned to where Steve and Banner hovered around the table. As he passed Rogers, Steve handed him ten bucks, making me smile further. Nick was always good at betting, he also had an extremely good poker face. Then Steve's eyes caught mine. At first, there was confusion, unsure if I was really here, then he looked as pleased as I'd ever seen him look before.

"Welcome to the new world, Rogers," I said as I approached him.

"Miss Scott," he said as we shook hands. "How have you made it here too?"

"Did I forget to mention to you that I'm immortal?" I said with a smile. "Damn it, I tend to do that."

He laughed, remembering my old humour. "How was old Nic?"

I swallowed. "He …didn't make it."

Steve's face softened and he seemed suddenly guilty. "Oh… Scott, I'm so sorry. I didn't…"

I waved away his comment. "Ah, don't worry. I'm British, I can take it."

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," said Coulson from the other side of the room, picking up Banner's conversation. "Cell phones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

Steve listened with extreme curiosity. He probably had no idea what Phil was saying, but he also probably knew enough to guess that S.H.I.E.L.D had certain powers that no one should ever have. And if he was thinking that, then he would be damn right.

From there, Coulson introduced S.H.I.E.L.D to both Rogers and Banner, whom I also had the pleasure of meeting. Romanoff, I could tell, was still stressed about Clint. Even though she tried not to show it, I could still tell that she wanted revenge against Loki for taking Clint, and she would stop at nothing.

"It's still not going to find them in time," said Romanoff, looking up from the screen with Barton's face on it.

"You have to narrow your field," said Banner. "How many spectrometers do you have access too?"

"How many are there?" Replied Fury, crossing his arms.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." Banner took off his jacket as he spoke. "I'll rough out a tracking algera and basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. You have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff?" He called to Natasha and she moved instantly to do as ordered. "Would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please?"

"You're gonna love it, Doc," she said, "we got all the toys."

I chose to crouch next to one of the computers who was loading up as much information on the God as possible. It was difficult to look at his face. I still wasn't able to accept the fact that he seems so familiar, so alike to….. I just couldn't believe it.

"He looks familiar," said Steve, leaning over me.

"It's Loki," I said, not wanting to admit aloud what I already knew.

"Creepy looking guy," Steve continued, oblivious to my thoughts.

"Most bad guys are," I said, although I knew that wasn't true. I turned to Steve and smiled, probably the most genuine smile I'd ever pulled since Nic's death. "You want to go get some coffee?"

He smiled warmly. "Sounds great."

"We got a hit," said a bald S.H.I.E.L.D operative, turning around in his chair, "67% match. Wait, cross match, 79%

"Location?" Said Phil, striding over to him in his usual manner.

"Stuggart, Germany, 28 Coolin Straza. He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain?"

Steve turned around when Fury addressed him by his old title.

"You're up."

Steve nodded hesitantly, aware that now he was finally going to have to slip back into his old uniform. He marched over to the chamber that held his suit, and there it was, lit gloriously in front of him, freshly pressed and awaiting his presence. I leaned on the door way behind him, wanting to see how he was going to react. I couldn't imagine how strange this was for him, this new world. To suddenly be plunged into the heart of technological advancement. Poor Steve.

"Getting ready to suit up?"

He turned around to face me. "It's pretty strange, this place."

"You're telling me."

"How did you make it?"

I hesitated slightly. "I absorbed an alien entity which altered my DNA and made me seemingly immortal. Pure chance. Just like finding you out in the ice. Coulson couldn't wait for you to wake up."

He smiled slightly. "You got a suit?"

"Yup. S.H.I.E.L.D fixed me one, not quite as iconic as yours though."

"And what do they call you?"

"The Bronze Eagle."

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. I was blonde, so I could see his confusion. "How come?"

"Wait and see," I said, tapping the side of my nose with my finger before leaving to get into my own costume.

Stark was having no luck, even after showing off. So I leapt down and blasted Loki, one large outburst of alien power that sent him flying back. He looked up in shock, completely taken by surprise at the power I possessed. He'd under estimated me. Big mistake.

"Stand down or I will not hesitate to kill you," I said authorotivly.

Loki looked at me, no, more observed. He watched me with a burning intensity, measuring my words with his sharp mind, taking in my appearance, guessing my abilities, deciding upon his plan of action. After all the careful silence and consideration, I was surprised when he put his hands up in surrender and his costume faded. The thoughts that ran through my head screamed at me, telling me this was a trap. But his eyes… I couldn't seem to find reason within myself as I gazed into their depths. I turned my head away, furious at myself. I didn't give in to assholes like this. I was a soldier, born to fight.

I stared at him in the jet. Every now and then he'd look up at me, a slight smirk playing across his lips, and I'd just narrow my eyes in warning. This just amused him. He didn't quite know what I was. He probably just thought me some wasteful mortal. I wanted to show him so badly that I was anything but mortal. As far as I was concerned, if I really tried, I could take him down in a fight.

Steve and Tony convulsed in a corner, Rogers confirming my suspicions. He too thought it was too easy. Of course Stark edged the topic of conversation onto the subject of 'Steve's secret'. This of course, was reference to his large body muscle, a result of his super soldier serum. Plus Stark threw in the nickname 'Capsicle' for Steve, which Rogers took with disdain.

"And what do you think, Scott?" He asked me.

I sat back and clicked my neck. Loki's eyes bore into me and I could feel their gaze fixed onto my skin. "You're right," I said. "This was too easy."

"I'm sorry, have we met?" Said Stark.

"No," I shook my head and held out my hand. "Agent Scottie Pryde."

"Tony Stark," he replied as he shook my hand. "But you probably know that."

"Romanoff has told me…plenty," I said with a knowing smile.

"So that's the name you go by these days," said Steve. "How come you dropped your first name?"

"I decided to make a new life for myself, staring with a new name."

"I liked your first name."

"So did Nicholas," I replied, and he seemed to take that as the exact reason why I had changed my name. He knew. Bless his soul, Steve was a good man, no wonder Nicholas could never stop talking about him.

"Who's Nicholas?" Said Stark.

Now that was a question I wasn't going to answer. Only Steve knew my real name, which was why Natasha had her ears pricked up at our conversation. She didn't know about Nicholas. Steve was the only person here who knew what it was like to lose someone. What fighting a real war was like. How different the 21st century was.

The plane shuddered loudly and I rose immediately, looking out in front of the jet and staring into the swarming storm in front of us.

"Where's this coming from?" Said Romanoff as lighting crashed around us, striking with bright intensity as the storm swallowed the jet.

"What's the matter?" Said Steve over his shoulder to Loki. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," replied Loki in a voice that made my skin crawl with familiarity. I realised he hadn't spoken the whole trip, and to suddenly hear his voice, that sweet accented voice, made my heart snap painfully in my chest.

Something landed on top of the jet, and all of us jumped with surprise. Whatever it was rocked the entire jet. Stark put his Iron Man helmet on, doing what he usually did and facing the problem alone. He pressed a button, opening the door to the jet.

"What are you doing?" Yelled Steve over the bustling wind that flew in and froze us all.

Thor landed directly in front of him and I caught the sudden fear on Loki's face as he did so. But how was Thor he? Why didn't he return before now? Jane had been awaiting his arrival desperately, why didn't he come? Thor approached Iron Man with cold nerves of steel. He threw his hammer against Stark, propelling him backwards, grabbed Loki around the neck and pulled him out of the plane. Great. Now Thor was getting involved. About time?

"Now there's that guy," murmured Stark as he stood.

"Another Asgardian?" Asked Romanoff.

"Loki's big brother," I point out to her.

"Think that guy's friendly?" Asked Steve.

"Doesn't matter," replied Stark before I could answer, "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost." Well…he did have a point.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack," Rogers pointed out as Tony turned his back on us.

"I have a plan," he replied, "attack." Then he leapt out of the jet too, chasing after Loki and Thor.

Steve, being Steve, grabbed a parachute to follow as well.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap," Romanoff said to him.

"I don't see how I can," he replied, strapping on the parachute.

"These guys come from legend, their basically Gods," she said.

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

His remark made me smile and he grabbed his shield and leapt out of the jet. Good old Steve, fighting a battle greater than ever before. Going up against Gods. Arguing with plain evidence. Good old Captain America.

"Make sure they don't kill each other," said Natasha. "I'll keep her steady."

"You're relying on me to keep two demi gods, a super soldier and Iron Man alive?" I said with disbelief.

"I know you don't take bullshit, Scott, and I know you can beat the shit out of all of them. Now go."

Although Romanoff claimed she didn't get close to anyone, she had grown on me and I on her. So I smiled as I stripped off my jacket as I leapt out the plane. Sure enough I could see the battle going on, lights flashing, trees crashing, a good amount of butt whooping in action. But I could also see Loki, perched on a rock, no one to stop him running away as he watched them fight with fierce pleasure. It caught him by surprise as I swooped down not far from him. I gazed at the forest, crossed my arms and sighed deeply.

"Join the Avengers, he said, what could possibly go wrong, he said?" I laughed as I repeated Coulson's words to me. "If I wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent I'd kill them all myself." Then I turned my gaze on Loki, who smiled with smug satisfaction. "And what do you look so pleased about."

He laughed. "The so called 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' are too busy battling each other to fight greater foes. What do I have not to be pleased about?"

So that was his play? How could Earth defend itself if it was too busy fighting itself? Clearly he has this planned out. The Avengers would argue, not work as a Team and as a result, we would fail and he would rule Earth. I don't think so.

"You shouldn't underestimate them, you know," I said, turning my head away from him.

"I'm sorry?" He stood up, but I paid no attention. "What did you say?"

"They're stronger than you think. It's why there's so many of them. It's why they're so different to each other."

"You think they are strong?"

"No. I think their will to live is strong. And that's all a human needs. The will to live can do amazing things to these humans, a mother will run into a burning fire to save her child, a man can run faster than anyone has ever run before, a citizen will pick up a weapon they've never used before to protect their own. It's their motive. A pretty damn strong one too."

"You refer to them as humans, as if you were not one." He was getting a little too close for my comfort zone. "Care to tell?"

"I thought a smart arse like you would figure out that reason I refer to them as human is because I'm not one. God, Thor told me you were the clever one." This angered him, as was my intention.

"You dare mock me mortal!"

"In case you haven't noticed," I turned on him, my eyes blazing gold with unknown powers, "I am not mortal." I slammed my power into him, growing tired of him thinking that he was better than everyone else, that he could chose who lived and who died. He made me sick. I glared at him warningly as I stood above him. He stared at me, but not with fear, with amusement instead.

"Scott!"

I glanced over my soldier to see Thor approach me, in quite a surprisingly friendly manner too. He was quite a way off and could not see his brother on the ground before me where I had just over powered him. "Good to see you on Earth, Thor!" I said with a wave. My smile turned back into a glare and I grabbed Loki roughly and stood him up. Then I turned back to Thor and approached him with what I hoped was also a friendly smile. I hadn't been known for kindness.

"I see you have finally met my brother," he said, glancing over my shoulder at Loki who was brushing himself off. "And you have introduced yourself to him obviously." He smiled humorously.

"I do wonder how you've tolerated him for so many years," I said. This just made him laugh. "And have you boys finished play fighting or do you still have more energy cooped up inside?"

"We're done," said Stark, giving Rogers a look before he shot off into the sky.

"I suppose you're going to need a lift?" I said to Steve. "Seeing as Thor's going to have his hands full with Loki?"

"You can fly?" He said. Of course, Steve was in the ice before I gained my powers. He had no idea.

"It's a long story." I stepped closer to him, which made him raise his eyebrows in shock. They almost disappeared into his hair line as my wings unfurled. Thor lifted off behind us, I could hear that easily. "Hold on," I said to Steve and he did so hesitantly, with a bit of caution. I suppose Peggy never had a chance to break him in before the accident. Nevertheless, I took off smoothly, landing softly in the plane again. Steve broke away with a hesitant smile.

"Things just get weirder and weirder these days," he said. "What else can you do?"

"Stuff," I said, "stuff that I don't want to discuss in front of certain people." This of course meant Loki, who was staring at my wings just like Thor.

"You didn't tell me you could do that?" Said Thor, pointing at them also with his hammer… I forget the name, but Darcy called it "Mew Mew".

"There's lots of things people don't know about me," I said, tucking my wings behind my back and putting my jacket on over the shiny bronze leather suit with the emblem of an eagle sewn onto the back. My own suit. "Steve probably knows the most."

"I do?" He asked.

"No one here knows about Nic, my real name, where I come from, or what I did before I came to America. You know that much. But my powers? That's a secret I've kept to myself for seventy years."

"Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something," said Fury as he left the room, leaving Loki in his little cage.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he," said Banner with sarcasm.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," said Steve pointedly. "So…Thor, what's his play?"

I glanced up at the Asgardian who had his arms crossed, deep in thought. "He has an army called the Chitari," he said, turning to us. "They're not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army…from outer space?" Said Steve slowly, going over the words.

"So he's building another portal?" Said Banner, taking off his glasses. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Said Thor, his ear pricked up immediately at the mention of his name.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend."

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," said Romanoff. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," said Steve, speaking the question that was on all our minds. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," said Banner. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor said firmly. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," stated Romanoff.

"He's adopted," Thor said almost apologetically.

I stared at the screen, trying to piece things together. So, Loki was a God, he wasn't some reincarnation. He seemed spiteful too. I wasn't used to seeing that face so riddled with hatred, I was used to a compassionate smile and warm glowing eyes that adored me, and I adored them. I loved that face, but I didn't like Loki. The strangest thing was, I wanted nothing more than to see him smile, to remember what it looked like. To remember what it felt like.

"Rose?"

The mention of my true name made me freeze. I hadn't heard that name for a long time. A single tears slid down my cheek, but it dried quickly. I looked up into Steve's warm face, a familiar one, and I suddenly realised how much I had missed his presence. Steve and Nic were always close, and I had grown to love Steve as a friend, just like Nic did. Hell, he was the best man at our wedding. He knew me almost as well as Nicholas had, but I guess this new me was hard for him to adjust to as well. I felt guilty almost, everything had changed for him, including me, the one person who he could communicate with. Perhaps I should try to adjust, to return to my old character. But I couldn't do that without my Nicholas.

"Hey Steve," I said with a half-smile. It was only then that I realised we were alone.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his concern genuine and kind. "You're not yourself."

I sighed heavily. "I haven't been myself for a long time Steve, I'm sorry."

"A piece of you died too, didn't it?" Steve said.

I nodded. I was surprised when I felt his arms wrap around me and he pulled me to his chest in a familiar embrace. I rested easily against him, all the tenseness in my body fleeing as I welcomed the arms of an old friend. That was when I started to cry silent tears.

"I wish I could have been there to save him, Rose," said Steve

He was taking this out on himself? I pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "It's not your fault, Steve. Even I wish I was there to look after him, but we can't undo the past. I lost Nic, you lost Peggy, and now here we are in a strange new world, old friends who don't belong here. I suppose we're here to help each other, if you believe in fate."

"Then I suppose it's for the best," said Steve with a lopsided smile.

I ruffled his hair. "I bet you nabbed a kiss from her though, eh?"

He blushed. "Maybe."

"Well, I'm sure once you get settled in here, it won't be too hard, as long as we stick together, okay?"

"Together," he repeated with a smile. "You haven't changed too much, Rose. You still have the same charming smile."

"Bless your soul, Steve. Now, go save the world with the Avengers. America's been missing its Captain."

He trundled away with a smile, glad that I was alright. Perhaps having Steve with me would make it easier for me to settle into my old character. But Loki still unnerved me. I had to speak with him, I had to get answers. I knew I shouldn't, but I just couldn't stop myself. Before I knew it, my feet were finding their way through the Helicarrier and I collided with Natasha along one of the corridors.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"For a walk," I lied.

"Past Loki?" She asked with a raised brow.

"I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

She hesitated, aware that I was old enough to be her grandmother. I stepped past her and into the room containing Loki. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched him. He seemed as eager to observe me.

"Come to ask questions as well?" He said with spite.

I just gazed at him, or more, into his eyes. So deep and blue I thought I could get lost. But I wanted to see him smile. I wanted to see him look upon me just like Nicholas used to. I couldn't stop myself from speaking the words I had meant to ask. "Why do you look like him?"

Loki raised an eye brow. "Explain?"

"Like him, Nicholas." I swallowed. "My husband."

This made Loki smile. "You think I look like your lover? Is there something in particular you have come here for?"

"Answers," I replied. I walked towards the glass and stared at him, this shocked him, for he probably had not imagined he would be encountered so.

"Is there something you want…Rose?"

The sound of my name in his lips made a tear run from my eye. I hadn't heard my name said like that, in that voice, for years. I sighed, a heavenly sigh that conveyed exactly how long I had waited to hear my name on his lips. But then I wondered…how did he know my name?

"Just because you've placed my body in a cage, doesn't mean my mind can't escape and be free to explore," he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with my emotions and answering my unspoken question. Of course, he was expecting someone like Black Widow, but I wasn't. I didn't use my sex as a weapon, I never could. Nicholas' death had made me hard and cold, and I was so alone. I looked into his eyes, showing him my true emotion, showing him I wasn't afraid of my past, just changed by it.

"You are alone," I said. Loki's face stiffened and neutralised. "As am I. Perhaps not in the means of family, but Steve is the only remnant of my past left, other than my husband's old uniform and the locket he gave me for my sixteenth birthday." I smiled at the memory. "You have no idea how lucky you are."

"Lucky?" Loki said with a sneer. "How am I lucky?" He slammed his fist against the glass furiously. "I was the rightful King of Asgard, then to find out that the All Father lied to me my entire life and wouldn't allow me to ascend to the throne because he couldn't have a Frost Giant on the throne of Asgard! How am I lucky?" He said it with such disdain that he hadn't realised how raw with emotion he'd suddenly become. In that moment of rage, I saw in his eyes loneliness and betrayal. And in that moment, I pitied him.

"Thor would welcome you home," I said. "You have a home."

"A home where my own family would betray me!"

"No," I shook my head.

"What do you know?"

I smiled sadly. He seemed like just an ignorant child, making mistakes. In this moment, I felt the elder here. I felt the powerful one. "Dancing," I said.

Loki looked confused and removed his hand from the glass. "Dancing?"

"For our first date, Nicholas took me dancing, but I couldn't dance, so he taught me. We'd known each other for years, him and I, and eventually I became a woman and he a man. But sooner than I had wanted, war was upon us. Both he and I were called to duty where our fates were uncertain. We planned on having a family. To start anew. Then when I was only three weeks pregnant, Nicholas was called to the front line. Little did I know that I would kiss him good bye for the last time." Tears streamed down my cheeks and I stared absently ahead of me as I retold the story. "The telegraph announcing his death came three days before the war ended. I was heartbroken and six months pregnant with a child that would never know their father. My best friend and true love, gone. I was so furious with the Gods that I climbed on a hummock and yelled at the sky. Then a star crashed into me, killing my unborn child and giving me a chance at a new, immortal life. Now here I am, out of my time, still clinging to the vague memories of Nicholas, an immortal surrounded by mortals. You do not know what it is like to lose everything. To have no one. To be alone."

"I was thrown into an abyss," said Loki. "I was lied to, I was betrayed."

"I would give anything to be with Nicholas again," I said ignoring him. "To see him smile, to see him laugh, the smell his scent, to feel his arms around me. My mother died when I was little and my father, well, he threw me out because he didn't want me anymore. I was orphaned and made my way in the world alone. Until I found Nicholas. You see Loki? Odin loves you like a son, Thor loves you like a brother and Asgard is your home where people will not age and die. My own father wanted nothing to do with me. He hated me. I never knew family love. Nicholas was my one redemption, and then he was gone. And eventually, everyone else aged and died." Now I stepped forward and glowered at him. "You act like a child, standing here in front of me, thinking yourself above us all because you live somewhere else and have a few extra things we don't, but here you are making the decisions of a child. You think you are so hard done by, when you have a family who would love you and forgive you even after your mistakes. My father didn't even care. I have lost everything! I know what loneliness is like. You think me pathetic, but you truly are the worst!"

"You dare –"

"I dare! I dare, Loki! Because nothing will get through to you! But what makes me feel worse is the fact that right now I am staring at a man with the same face as my dead husband. But Nicholas was warm and inviting, and you are spiteful and crude. Yet I would give anything to see you smile like he did, just so I can be reminded of him, because I miss him so much. But you will never understand what it feels like, because you will always think yourself above love. And you know what Loki? I think you just need someone to say that they love you and would never leave you and never lie to you. But you need to earn that love for it cannot be served to you on a silver platter. Take my advice: do not become the monster you think you are, for family is in the bond, not the blood."

I gave him one last look and stormed away. I hoped that perhaps he would understand I was not there to kill him but to tell him I would be a willing ally if he pulled himself together. But he was the God of Mischief and Lies, there was no way he would care about a word I just said. He thought himself alone, but he still had a home and family. I had none of that. I had Steve though, he was the only person I could connect too. Then a warm feeling fluttered in my stomach as I repeated to myself I have Steve. I don't ever have to be alone again.